A Swedish court on Thursday overturned a rape conviction for a man who performed a forced “infidelity check” on his girlfriend, prompting calls for rape laws to be changed.

Rachid Zoghlami was convicted of rape and sentenced to two years and eight months in jail in December, after he penetrated his girlfriend with his fingers to determine whether she had been unfaithful.

But a court of appeal in Stockholm ruled that the 28-year-old’s actions were to be viewed as coercion rather than rape since they weren’t driven by “sexual intent”, then reduced his sentence to 18 months behind bars.

Exit question: If I presume that Mr. Zoghlami is a Muslim, am I a) racist b) an Islamaphobe c) Christianist or d) all of the above?

UPDATE: MSNBC beclowns itself while attempting to make a fool out of Sherriff Wright.

You all may remember that in mid-October, Vice President Joe Biden was in Flint, Michigan, speechifyin’ to police, firefighters, and members of the public. During his no doubt almost presidential eloquence, VP Biden made a dire prognostication about the safety of Flint’s citizens:

“In 2008, when Flint had 265 sworn officers on their police force, there were 35 murders and 91 rapes in this city. In 2010, when Flint had only 144 police officers, the murder rate climbed to 65 and rapes–just to pick two categories–climbed to 229. In 2011, you now only have 125 shields. God only knows what the numbers will be this year for Flint if we don’t rectify it.”

Fortunately for Flint, the Veep’s figures and conclusions were a bit off, and Flint is still as safe as it ever has been recently. But Joe is firmly convinced that the only way to keep the folks safe is Obama’s jobs bill.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, one Sherriff is recommending that the citizens arm themselves. In response to an attempted rape in a local part, Sherriff Chuck Wright said:

“Our form of justice is not making it… Carry a concealed weapon. That’ll fix it.”

“I’m tired of looking at victims saying, ‘There’s life after this’ … I’m tired of saying, ‘We’re sorry, we can’t keep them in jail.'” Wright said in his view, gun control is, “How fast can you can get the barrel of your gun back on the target?”

Wright said the attack is not the fault of Millken Park. He said, “It’s a nice place for families.” He said officers patrol the area all the time and respond to various calls there. He said, “Don’t blame anyone for having an animal on their property … We can’t get it all.”

He ended by saying again, “I want you to get a concealed weapons permit. Don’t get Mace. Get a firearm.”